The largest music, arts and culture festival MDL Beast which was hosted by Saudi Arabia has been awarded a Guinness World Record certificate for having the world’s tallest temporary stage.
The three-day event saw more than 70 world-renowned DJs and international artists from Tiesto and David Guetta to Amr Diab and Peggy Gou, and saw the attendance of more than 400,000 festival-goers including celebrities and well-known influencers.
H.E. Turki Abdulmohsen Al-AlSheikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, said at the time, “What thousands of people have witnessed here over the past three days is the first of what we hope will be many cultural, artistic, and entertainment experiences brought in great scale and color to this wonderful country that is rich with legacy, culture, and capabilities, as we open ourselves up further to the world and invite others to come in and experience what Saudi Arabia has to offer. We are so proud to have attracted the best local and international talent to Riyadh, the heart of the Kingdom, and we can’t wait to tell you about what’s next for the country, and MDL Beast… watch this space.”
The Ministry of Culture has announced the extension of the Year of Arabic Calligraphy campaign into 2021 due to the current crisis of the coronavirus pandemic.
Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan tweeted the announcement earlier on Sunday.
بسبب الظروف الاستثنائية، وما يشهده العالم من جائحة كورونا، تم تمديد #عام_الخط_العربي_2020 ليشمل عام 2021.
سنعبر الأزمة وسنمضي في تحقيق أحلامنا. https://t.co/sbbvkLKbfC— بدر بن عبدالله بن فرحان آل سعود (@BadrFAlSaud) April 5, 2020
“Due to the exceptional circumstances, and what the world is witnessing in the coronavirus pandemic, the Year of Arabic Calligraphy 2020 has been extended into 2021. We will overcome this crisis and continue to fulfill our dreams,” the minister tweeted.
The year-long celebration was designed to show the true identity of Saudi Arabia and to be a source of inspiration for artists around the world. In addition to highlighting the importance and historical significance of Arabic calligraphy.
The year of Arabic calligraphy will also play a vital role in passing down the language through generations, the generations that are close to losing their mother language.
Artists were invited to submit ideas and project proposals that highlights Arabic calligraphy, and winners were to be provided partial or full financial media and logistical sponsorship from the ministry.
“The impact of the current circumstances and the Kingdom’s efforts in limiting the spread of the coronavirus necessitated the postponement of many cultural events organized by the Ministry of Culture.” The ministry’s official spokesman, Abdulkareem Al-Hameed, said.
شكراً قيادتنا الحكيمة.
شكراً أبطال الصحة.
شكراً جنود الوطن. #يوم_الصحة_العالمي #كلنا_مسؤول#وزارة_الثقافة pic.twitter.com/vwMkUlmFc0— وزارة الثقافة (@MOCSaudi) April 7, 2020
Let us all look at this extension as an opportunity for us all who are interested to join, to have the time to come up with different artistic ideas to take part and win not as an unfortunate news.
Visit the Ministry’s website for more information.
The long-awaited global event Expo 2020 Dubai was set to kick start six months from now, but due to the current unfortunate events, organizers of the event are currently looking into postponing the event till next year.
While everyone involved in #Expo2020 Dubai remains firmly committed, many countries have been significantly impacted by COVID-19 and they have expressed a need to postpone Expo’s opening by one year, to enable them to overcome this challenge. pic.twitter.com/8xgk5D0UJl
— expo2020dubai (@expo2020dubai) March 30, 2020
In a conference call that brought together members of the event’s steering committee, which comprises local government officials and foreign country representatives, all agreed that a delay is indeed needed and that the Paris-based based Bureau International des Expositions, or BIE, should study this option. The BIE awards the global event and its member states will have the final say regarding the matter.
We support the proposal to explore a one-year postponement at today’s Steering Committee meeting. We will follow due processes with Expo’s governing body, @BIEParis, on making the decision to delay, which requires a two-thirds majority vote from the BIE General Assembly. pic.twitter.com/76Lz3CcbkD
— expo2020dubai (@expo2020dubai) March 30, 2020
“The World’s Greatest Show” was expected to witness the arrival of around 11 million overseas visitors who were eager to come and enjoy the event’s unique medley culture, business, trade, and technology featuring pavilions from 192 countries.
“The global situation is fast moving, and remains unpredictable,” the event’s managing director, Reem Al Hashemi, said in a statement issued on state news agency WAM.
For years now, organizers and officials have regarded the showcase exhibition as the perfect boost for Dubai’s economy and billions of dollars have already been spent on marketing, building hotels and facilities for the global event.
The long-awaited art event ‘Art Dubai‘ has decided to go virtual instead of having to cancel or postpone due to the coronavius outbreak and we’re just lucky to have the opportunity to tour the exhibition from the safety of our homes.
The elevated unique experience has become available online on the 25th of March and is still ongoing, over the past days, Art Dubai has succeeded in garnering 53,520 unique page views on its website and 60,000 views on Facebook.
Art Dubai’s 2020 digital programme offers an online catalog and an online performance programme curated by Marina Fokidis. Commissioner of Global Art Forum, ShumonBasar, who said in a statement, “Reality has shifted suddenly. Physical gatherings aren’t possible. So the Global Art Forum needed an emergency format. So, I thought, why not do a special broadcast edition of the Forum that addresses the new stories emerging from this moment of global narrative collapse? And do this collectively, with a group of brilliant thinkers, all of whom have something nourishing and provoking to say.”
UAE galleries including Ayyam Gallery, Carbon 12, Custot Gallery, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Leila Heller Gallery and Meem Gallery will all be participating in Art Dubai online this year.
We love how art survived all of this and made magnificent art works by artists including, Frank Stella, Mohamed Melehi and Hamra Abbas available to us all from the comfort of our sofas!
Purchase inquiries were made online as well, and you can now check the amazing artwork through this link.
After Art Dubai was cancelled, the country’s government decided to reach into its own coffers to buy some of the art itself. https://t.co/TqOdAKfVSG pic.twitter.com/52hG1Raz1J
— Artnet (@artnet) March 29, 2020
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